I bought the Nokia 3110 Classic a week ago. Before buying this phone, I spent a lot of time researching phones and reading online reviews.
Here are my first impressions of the product.
1) KEYPAD:
The first thing that strikes you when you hold the phone is the large keypad. The keys are large and well separated. It’s mighty hard to press a wrong key with this one! However, the large keypad tends to slow down smsing as your thumbs have to reach farther. The keys are fairly firm and require you to push harder than usual, reducing the speed at which you can key-in stuff. Of course, this also prevents wrong button pushes. I noticed that the store’s dummy phone’s keypad felt very different from the actual phone. The navipad is nice and responsive - no complaints there.
2) LOOKS:
This is one department where the 3110 scores poorly. It looks ordinary at best. The phone has a very conventional(and boring) design. Hey, atleast the design’s familiar! The phone’s keypad includes hindi alphabets too further marring the already unattractive phone.
3) BUILD QUALITY:
The build quality appears to be quite good. The phone feels solid and there are no creaks or gaps in the phone body. Nokia claims that the materials for this phone have been chosen with durability in mind. It does not support Xpress-on covers. In my view, this is actually an advantage since the phone construction is stronger as a result. Of course, I’m yet to drop the phone, so I really dont know how durable it actually is!:D The rear battery door sits tightly and makes ominous creaking noises when I try to pull it off - I feel it might break if I tug too hard.
4) FEATURES:
The phone is fully loaded in every sense - exp memory, bluetooth, 1.3 MP camera.I will not bore you with the feature list. You can look up https://nokia-asia.com/nokia/0, 8764, 102043, 00.html for the full specs. Anyway, I always recommend prospective buyers to go through the user guide since as they will know exactly what the phone is capable of without the marketing jargon.
5) BATTERY LIFE:
Nokia claims about 3.5 hours of talktime. In my experience, the battery lasted for about 2 days with about 30 mins of calls a day, a couple of sms’s and 30mins of music on the speaker. As the phone is new, I did spend quite a bit of time transferring data and exploring the interface which would’ve eaten into the battery life. I expect the phone to last for about 3 days with moderate use. Note that this phone uses a new type of charger with a narrower contact. I had to change my dad’s car charger because of this.
6) INTERFACE:
The phone is equipped with the newest S40 3rd edition user interface(UI). The interface is fast and easy to use. The UI is very customizable. It is very similar to the latest Symbian S60 UI found on most smartphones. There is a new "active standby" feature which displays a shortcut bar and other info on the main screen. I found this very handy as I get a lot of info at one glance. Most of Nokia’s new midrange phones use this software. You can read more about the phone’s software here: https://mobile-review.com/review/nokia-6131-3-en.shtml
7) DISPLAY:
The phone has a 2in 128x160 TFT display. Although it gets washed out in sunlight, it remains readable. The screen has(in my opinion) adequate resolution for an upper end budget phone. The screen is bright and clear. The display however is a fingerprint magnet. Different font sizes can be set for different applications. This is very handy as large fonts are essential for basic tasks. My dad found the display very comfortable and easy to read.
8) MUSIC PLAYER:
The included music player is quite nice. The player is built-in, not a java application. This means that it loads instantly and is even capable of running in the backgound while you perform other tasks or play games. It allows you to create playlists on the go. Sound quality was average - not very impressive, but sufficient. The included nokia earphones are useless. Nokia has chosen to use a non-standard earphone port which means that you’re pretty much stuck with it until they release an adaptor.
9) MISCELLANEOUS:
Java applications load quickly.
The voice recorder can record phone conversations(Tehelka!). I discovered that the built-in email app does not work with basic gprs but requires a premium service such as hutch access. I now use Gmail’s excellent java client.
Miserly sales package does not include a data cable or a software cd.
Camera is decent for a phone camera. But it still doesnt even come close to a digicam’s pics.
10) COMPARISON:
I could find no other phone at this price point which offered a similar feature set - especially the expandable memory and BT. I did take a look at Samsung’s E250 but was put off by the extremely poor battery life. Sony Ericsson’s K510i was enticing but it lacked expandable memory.
11) CONCLUSION:
If you’re on a budget and want the best bang for your buck, this phone is perfect for you. Feature-wise, there is almost no compromise for the ordinary user so long as you dont mind the looks.